Afraid to Run Away
by Hikareh
Summary: What if Sonic the Hedgehog is born five years too late? What if he is only five at the time of Robotnik's first attack, instead of ten? He is too young to do anything about it, so how can Mobius possibly survive? /Infinite hiatus/


_Afraid to Run Away  
><em>A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction_  
><em>Chapter 1: Unrealized Hero  
>By Hikari-san42<br>Rating: T – for curse words and violence; no death  
>Pairing(s): None<br>**Warnings**: Continuity twist; forgotten characters showing up; age fumble

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>In my Earth and Space science class, we've been going over parallel universes, and how there are thousands of universes out there that have one minute change from this one. You didn't catch that train; you didn't pick that dog; you did ask that guy out. I couldn't get this out of my head, so I gave birth to this.

It's mainly just an age flub. Sonic is five years younger than what he is in SEGA's continuity. Everyone else is the same age, except Sonic. So, when Robotnik attacks for the first time, he's not ten, he's five. This changes the game a bit, because Sonic's still too young to really do anything. This is my interpretation on what would happen in this situation. Hope you like it.

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><p>The planet Mobius, one of the most sought after planets in the universe. With its set climates and friendly natives, it is a paradise in the bleak universe, making it a hot tourist attraction to the humans. Though, they mainly keep to the mainland, where the large human-dominated cites (like Station Square and Westopolis), rule the land. The native inhabitants – all different species of intelligent, anthropomorphic animals – usually keep to the islands dominating the southern half of the planet. It is an even balance that keeps the peace and allows both groups to live in harmony.<p>

However, the story of how Mobius came to be is a deep, convoluted tale, full of twists and turns of apocalypses and near-misses. The planet itself was easily six billion years old, having supported a long evolutionary history of differing superior creatures. It shared much of the same chain of events with the human planet Earth, despite its difference in age and distance from its home star. First came the single-celled plant-like organisms, blooming across the water-covered sphere with ease. Then came the more complex invertebrates: crabs, trilobites, giant lobster, and huge insects. An ice age ended that era, and an uneven amount of volcanism under the water finally created islands, beginning with what was the present day Seven Isles of Chaos. The reptiles took over after that, growing so huge that they dominated the trees and the ground. Some could fly, some could swim and some could do both. A meteor, some five miles across, slammed into the Southside Sea thousands of years later, sending out a shock wave that killed much of the ruling species. All that was left was a small race of furry creatures.

After that, the story is lost to time and the lack of bones and evidence. The ruling species was a mystery, though the huge buildings found in the middle of one of the unnamed, uninhabited islands near the South Pole hinted at intelligence. However, only one thing was known about them: a combination of radiation poisoning and war knocked out almost every living thing on the planet.

Slowly, Mobius healed itself, forming the intelligent animals that now walked its lands. They went through many leading species: the dragons, the echidnas, the lions, and the hedgehogs. Now though, there is no ruling class; everyone is equal.

When compared with the humans, the Mobians are clearly the superior species: their technology is more advanced – branching to include hovercrafts and clean manufacturing –, anti-matter and a strange substance called Chaos Energy are used to power most major cities, and wars are a thing of the past. There is peace among the population, despite the turmoil rolling through the human cities. On their home planet, one man by the name of Kintobor has tried and failed many times to get permission to colonize the Mobian people, preaching of their barbaric ways and un-religious view of the world. The leaders of their world have shot him down many times, even going so far as revoking his universal-passport. His influential way of speaking has gathered him a few followers on Mobius and on Earth, but most of the humans are dead set against the idea.

This is the falsely-balanced world that begins this story. The main character has yet to come into his own, and he is unaware of the danger set to face him in the near future. He was young, only about four years old, but already fending for himself. He is the weight that upsets the balance and brings everything back into equilibrium; the influence of the gods on Mobius. He is the embodiment of speed, the representative of the wind in the tangible sense, and, like the wind, he is strong when angered, and terrifying when organized. For now though, he only a little boy, with no idea of what awaits him…

Let us begin…

o0o

Olgilvie Maurice Nick Hedgehog was one of the cutest children at the Christmas Island orphanage. With large dark eyes dominating most of his skull, thin arms and legs, and overly-large hands and feet, his whole body screamed _protect me_. However, his demeanor fought with his outward appearance. His hips always cocked at an insubordinate angle, his arms always crossed, his eyes always glaring, he negated his adorable exterior, chasing off possible adoptive-parents at every turn. His mouth was large; his tongue sharp, even in his young age; his brain quick-witted and lacking a filter. He shot down larger tormentors with pointed words.

His arrival at the orphanage two months earlier had been shrouded in mystery. He had stumbled onto the property, climbing over the fence and assimilating himself into everyday life. He had no official papers, no background besides a birth date monogrammed inside the cuff of his left glove, a strange blue fur color, and unnatural ability to run faster than any of the adults had ever seen. He only knew one thing about himself, and that he kept guarded close, so close that the officials had been forced to give him a false name. He did not tell anyone his _real_ moniker, and barely responded to the one bestowed upon him.

He didn't do well with children his own age. There were only two others in his age bracket, and he barred his teeth and refused to associate with them. He never spoke, even during classes, and when he wasn't running around the yard, he was sitting on the couch with one leg crossed over the other, his arms crossed over his chest, and a glare set on his face. He hissed at anyone who came close to him, and would bolt away if anyone dared to touch him. He wasn't aggressive, despite his hostile reactions to other people, but just wanted to be left alone.

It was the consensus of the adults to let him play with the younger children. Maybe their natural innocence would appeal to him and open him up, was the thought. They deigned that their methods weren't working or getting through to this child, so they hoped something out of the box would start to chip away at his tough exterior. He wasn't natural; they whispered to each other in the kitchen, after all the children had been put to bed. His eyes were too knowledgeable for his four years, too calculating, yet too childlike at the same time.

Two months after his arrival, he was allowed into the nursery, where the children under the age of three were kept. There were only six, two infants, three one-year-olds, and a two-year-old. They were of varying species, the two babies twin wolves, the one-year-olds all variations on the cat species, and the two-year-old a fox.

The fox was source of discontent with the staff. He was unadoptable, yet in need of care, so they were stuck with him. He was as cute as a button, with large eyes and fur of a golden color. His face was rounded with baby fat, and his smile dazzling and heart-melting. He was polite, and was obviously smart, even at the age of two. He was brought to the orphanage when he could barely walk, but could already speak in longer sentences than children five times his age. On his second birthday, he didn't ask for crayons or toy cars; he asked for quantum physics textbooks. He had thrown a wrench in the foolproof system of the orphanage, gathering himself a lot of contempt among the older children and some of the adults equally.

However, his large brain wasn't the strangest thing. He was not only a mental anomaly, but also a genetic one. Where most Mobian foxes only had one tail, he was cursed with two. Neither was dominant, as far as the caretakers could tell, and both were healthy, something rare in genetic mutations. He didn't show any adverse side-effects of having an extra, so they did nothing to correct the problem. He wasn't aware that he was strange, at least not yet, having been sheltered in the nursery for the majority of his life, but he was aware that he was different, and he shied away of ever mentioning his double tails. However, he was in for a rough life of torment, causing some protective instincts to flare up in some of the adults. There were two groups of people when it came to the fox: the jealous and the protective.

That was why it took over two months to get full support of Olgilvie's visit to the nursery. Many of the caretakers were scared for the little fox; wary of the hedgehog's reaction to his strange appearance.

This was reasoning behind having five adults in the room at the initial meeting: one the headmaster of the orphanage, three den mothers, and one the head of the nursery. Olgilvie was led in by the three-to-six-year-old mother by the hand. She was a hedgehog like the small blue Mobian, with short brown quills and a kind face, which helped to ease the younger children. The young Olgilvie had latched onto her at first glance, showing a softer range of emotions than with everyone else. She cooed soft words ay him, guiding him into the small set of rooms. He was introduced to the one-year-olds first, but showed no reaction to the girls, just sitting amongst them while they played with their dolls and prodded broken questions at him. He didn't respond besides the shake of the head. Next were the babies, but he shied away from them when they started to wail in piercing voices. He covered his ears and shook his head, signaling to the adults that he was reaching the end of his rope. Soon, he would pull away.

With that in mind, they apprehensively allowed him into the room the small fox called his own. It was sparsely furnished, with rocket models hanging from the ceiling and completed ten thousand piece puzzles dominating the walls. There were scratched out plans to something distinctly mechanical sticking out of a red folder, and mechanical pencils rested on the table where crayons should have been. The fox himself was huddled on the bed with his tails wrapped around his body. He was scared, that much was certain. He had never met any children older than himself before, and he was uneasy.

Olgilvie stepped into the room carefully, toeing at the doorway for fifteen seconds before crossing the threshold. The fox's ears twitched, but he didn't raise his head from where he was leaning it on his folded knees. The hedgehog walked the perimeter of the room slowly, moving at the slowest speed any of the adults had ever seen him take, and ran his hand along the table, knocking the pencils rolling and the red folder scattering to the ground. The fox's head whipped up, and he was across the room in a flash, bending to pick it up. However, Olgilve beat him to it, and they ended up knocking into each other.

Their foreheads collided, and the adults rushed into the room to pick them up. However, the fox held up a hand, stopping them in their tracks.

"Are you okay, Miles?" The woman in charge of the nursery asked with her arms held out uselessly, like she wanted to help him up.

"I'm fine." The two-year-old answered in a high pitched voice, rubbing his head. He crawled toward the blue hedgehog, placing a gloved hand on his thin shoulder. Olgilvie's head whipped up, and his dark eyes met those of the fox. They stared at each other for five long seconds before Miles glanced sideways towards the caretakers. "You can go." The dismissal was obvious, yet still shocking.

"What?" The female hedgehog asked, her voice startled.

"Ya heard the kid," a foreign voice shot back, rough and scratchy, "get outta here."

It took a whole beat of silence for the adults to realize that it was Olgilvie who spoke, and they all sputtered his name as one, with question marks attached, their eyes whipping to the hedgehog. He was glaring at them, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

After a shared glance with each other, the headmaster nodded sharply once, motioning the adults out of the room. "Let's let the boys get acquainted. It will do them some good to make a friend."

Once the door was closed, Olgilvie turned to the fox in front of him, an eye ridge quirked upward. "_Miles_?"

"_Olgilvie_?" The fox shot back quickly, making the hedgehog chuckle.

"That's not my name." The blue one replied after a time, looking the fox up and down.

"I wish Miles wasn't my name."

"How about I call you something else then?"

Two-year-old eyes widened. "Really?"

"Sure. How about 'Tails'?"

Miles' expression soured, and he curled into himself without realizing. "You noticed?"

"Kinda hard to miss."

The fox didn't reply, just glared down at the tips of his tails as he fiddled with them.

"They're cool." This was mumbled, and if Miles hadn't seen Olgilvie's lips move out of the corner of his eye, he would have thought he was imagining it. "Kinda unfair." He continued, and the fox sent the hedgehog a flat stare. "I mean, I got this stubby tail that does nothing but get in the way," he motioned to his own fifth appendage, "and you get _two,_ long, expressive tails. You're lucky, kid."

The fox mulled that over for half a minute before nodding to himself. "I like it. It's who I am."

"Exactly." Olgilvie smiled and nodded, patting the two-year-old on the head.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, before the newly christened 'Tails' caught sight of the red folder still clutched in Olgilvie's hands. He motioned for it, and the hedgehog handed it over quickly, apologizing under his breath for knocking it off the table. With a wave of his hand, Tails took the folder and stood, ambling toward the table. He waved his new friend over, and they both sat.

"What's in that, anyway?" Olgilvie asked, pointing at the folder.

Tails blinked once before opening it slowly. "Just some blueprints." He mumbled, pulling out a small piece of notebook paper. He handed it off to his friend. "Nothing special."

Olgilvie blinked, staring down at the carefully drawn plan in front of him. It was simple, a toy car with a small rocket attached, but extremely detailed, with foreign concepts like 'velocity' and 'gravity' labeled. The hedgehog's four-year-old mind didn't know what most of the stuff written on the page meant, but the drawing was straightforward enough.

"This is cool." He smiled, handing it back. "You're smart." It was straightforward and to the point, but Tails still smiled.

"You're the first one to call me that."

"Really?"

The fox nodded, closing the folder. "With everyone else, it's 'genius' and 'prodigy,' not simply 'smart_._'" He sighed. "It's a nice, easy label."

Olgilvie nodded back. "I know what you mean. I'm an 'enigma,'" he butchered the pronunciation of the word, but Tails still understood what he was trying to say. "I don't even know what that _means_, but I can tell it's not normal."

Tails shrugged. "An enigma is something that can't be figured out." He paused, watching as Olgilvie processed. "Why do they call you that? You seem normal to me."

"I don't talk." He said quickly. "I don't talk to anyone… besides you, I guess."

"Why?"

The hedgehog shrugged back, folding his hands in front of him.

The conversation drifted to other things: favorite colors, favorite TV shows, favorite sports team. Soon enough, the headmaster knocked on the door, declaring that it was getting dark and their visit would have to come to a close. Olgilvie clammed up when the man entered the room, but loosened up easily enough when Tails requested a few more minutes alone.

As the door clicked shut behind the headmaster, Tails turned to his newfound friend. "What do I call you?" He asked quietly. Olgilvie turned his head sideways, staring at the fox unblinkingly. "I mean, you said your real name isn't Olgilvie, so what do I call you?"

The hedgehog's brow wrinkled at that, and his ear flickered in thought. He seemed at war with himself, if the way the mixed expressions of apprehension, anger, and eventual acceptance flicked across his face were anything to go on, but he eventually nodded.

"Sonic. You can call me Sonic."

o0o

The next eight months passed in a blur for the two young friends. Tails' birthday passed, officially making him too old for the nursery and he moved into the three-to-six-year-old room with Olgilvie. The other two boys who had been sharing the room with Olgilvie before both turned seven a few months later, leaving the room one after the other. After that, the fox and hedgehog had the room to themselves, and they stayed up late at night, doing puzzles or drawing together. Some nights, Tails tutored the hedgehog with the rudimentary beginnings of physics. Olgilvie was not a good student in classes, too fidgety to sit still and unwilling to speak out, but he was a smart child, even for only four years old. He was especially gifted in science, specifically velocity and trajectory.

Tails was an adept teacher, despite being only three. He knew the source material and could explain it in a way that helped Olgilvie grasp it. The fox had discovered the hedgehog's speed early on, when he had tripped in his room and Olgilvie had darted across the room and caught him inches from the ground. They had stared at each other for a few seconds before cracking up. Tails was slightly comforted by the hedgehog's strange anomaly, because that meant that he wasn't the only genetic mutant in the orphanage. They bonded closely after that, sharing inside jokes and loaded smiles.

Olgilvie had a higher learning ability than most, Tails realized early on, watching as his friend poured over the physics books and _comprehended_ it all. He wasn't a prodigy, that much was certain, but he was obviously above the average learning curve. He was hesitant to place the _genius_ label on his friend, despite how he could take the gravity formula and apply it to himself when he jumped out of a tree. He was skilled at calculating trajectory and could judge exactly how much force he had to exert with his legs to jump from the fence line to the roof of the house, but still struggled with learning to write his own name.

_Sonic's a quick learner_, Tails thought to himself as he watched his friend stare at the book and work out a formula in his mind, _but that may have to do with his natural speed. To run that fast, your brain has to __be__ fast, to comprehend everything whirling around you._

Attributing Olgilvie's physics-affinity to a brain hard-wired to understand it made perfect sense in Tails' advanced mind, but probably wouldn't go over well with the adults. So, they kept their lessons a secret, whispering over flashlights at night and pretending to play baseball when they were experimenting outside during the day.

Other than that, their lives were simple, what one would expect from the life of a child. They had classes during the day, played outside in the afternoons, and went to bed early at night. They were the best of friends, inseparable and intolerable. When they were together, they created havoc and mayhem. At dinner, they started food fights, and picked on the girls every chance they got. They were boys in every sense of the word, and they were proud.

When adoption days rolled around – the second Saturday of every month – they did everything they could to make sure they didn't get adopted. They made faces, made farting sounds with their mouths, or just skipped the meetings all together, instead opting to climb trees or lie in the grass and look at the clouds. They would much rather stay together than be taken away to live with strangers; they were each other's family.

Soon enough, summer showed signs of life, and Olgilvie's birthday rolled closer. He morphed into a ball of excitement, practically a rubber band stretched to breaking point. He couldn't wait to share his fifth birthday with his best friend. They planned a small party in their room, even going so far as to string a happy birthday banner across the doorway.

About a week before Olgilvie's birthday, the air around the house started to get tense. The adults spoke in hushed tones, trying to keep the children from hearing. They held secret meetings with the teenagers, even going so far as to assign each teen two or three of the younger children as a part of a 'mentoring project'. The young kids were told to find their teenager if something bad ever happened, like a tornado or an earthquake.

Olgilvie and Tails were grouped with an eleven year old chameleon named Espio, and all three of them were assigned to a sixteen-year-old crocodile named Vector. Vector was cool, at least in the eyes of the hedgehog and fox. He chewed gum and listened to loud music. Plus, he was nice and slightly protective of his three charges, which got him a bonus with the adults. Espio was aloof, but he could turn invisible, which made him awesome to Olgilvie and Tails, and they wasted a lot of time playing hide-and-seek with him. He didn't seem the type to care that he was playing with little kids, as long as he was having fun.

The adults held a lot of 'disaster drills' that week, making sure they all knew how to cower under tables or how to escape into the surrounding woods if someone tried to break in. However, through all of this, while the adults got wound tighter and tighter, Olgilvie never lost any of the excitement he had for his birthday.

When the day rolled around, Tails got everyone together to help him wake Olgilvie up. Together, they yelled '_Happy birthday_!' The hedgehog bolted awake, covering his heart and gaping soundlessly at all of them. Eventually, he started to laugh, an almost silent sound, and everyone joined in.

After that, came a day of cake and games and tender moments with friends. Everyone gave Olgilvie a present, and he smiled his thanks back when he opened them. As afternoon waned into evening, everyone settled in the main living room to watch a movie of Olgilvie's choosing.

Olgilvie got the seat of honor in the main armchair, which he shared with Tails, allowing the fox to curl up against his side.

"Happy birthday, big bro'." He mumbled sleepily, stiffening almost immediately when he realized what he had said.

Olgilvie just laughed, lowering his head so his mouth was next to the fox's ear. "Thanks, lil' bro'."

The film was an action-thriller, with tons of fighting and gun-fire. It was a little risqué for the small children to be watching, but the adults allowed it because it was Olgilvie's birthday. All of the kids watched intently, gasping and laughing at the appropriate moments.

The hero was a dog Mobian, and he was fighting an ancient evil bent on releasing the evil water-god Chaos. At the climax of the movie, he was facing down Chaos, a blurb of CGI blue on the screen. He drew his sword, swung it once over his head, and charged into battle.

None of them got the see the end of the movie.

Right at the moment when the Mobian met the water demon, the wall behind the television busted open. A giant metallic claw slammed through the dry wall, latching onto one of the adults seated in the middle of the children. It dragged her out of the room too quickly for anyone to realize.

Anyone besides Olgilvie, that is.

He was up in a flash, knocking Tails to the ground and running after the claw. He managed to catch up, and he grabbed her outstretched hand, ignoring the sharp fear coloring his features. He ignored the fact that this was the hedgehog woman, the one who had been the first person he connected with. He ignored everything. He grabbed the hand, and yanked. Of course, his five-year-old strength was nothing compared to the claw, but he still pulled, digging his heels into the ground.

Someone latched around his middle, and he glanced backward to see Tails, with his hands wrapped around Olgilvie's stomach. He too dug his heels into the ground, increasing the lag on the claw. Olgilvie felt a tug and he heard Tails gasp "Vector's got me!" There was more lag seconds later, meaning that someone else had grabbed onto their chain.

Incredibly, all of their combined strengths managed to yank the woman from the mechanical monstrosity's grasp. They all stumbled to the ground, suddenly aware that they were outside. There was smoke everywhere, and screams of terror. Olgilvie glanced backward and felt his eyes widen at the amount of people toppled over behind him. Almost every single teenager and adult from the orphanage was there, nursing bruised knees and elbows. One fleeting look upward was all it took for the hedgehog to realized that they were all in some serious trouble. Giant robots flooded the small town, picking up Mobians – men, women, and children – and carting them off toward Chaos-knew-where.

Olgilvie helped the female hedgehog to her feet, guiding her back inside the building. Once there, he passed her off to the headmaster, jumping up onto the couch.

"Okay, listen up!" He yelled, and the room got deathly silent. The five-year-old who never spoke addressed the crowd like a general, glaring them all into silence. "Everyone find your mentor!" He commanded, and everyone scrambled to find who they were assigned to. "Now, get out of here!"

It was a simple command, but one that sent people moving. Teenagers spread their arms over their charges, guiding them toward the doors, windows, and even the hole in the wall. Small children were crying and the bigger kids scooped them up, disappearing outside. Olgilvie felt something latch to his left leg and he glanced down to find Tails. He placed a gloved hand on the fox's head, thanking Chaos that he was in the same group with his friend.

Vector and Espio found them soon enough, and the chameleon grabbed Tails into his arms so they could move faster. Vector led the way out of the door, bolting into the forest and then signaling the others to come when the coast was clear.

Robots combed the area, making navigating hard and dangerous. They passed other fleeing Mobians, ducking low when a flying 'bot passed overheard. All around them, screams filtered through the air, and the sharp crack of gunfire added background sounds to their leaf-muffled footsteps. Nothing was said between the four, though Espio did pass Tails to Vector when he got tired, and they made it deep into the forest. Somehow, they found a hollowed out tree, deep enough for the four of them to hide in if they squeezed, and they rested there for fifteen minutes, Vector and Espio panting.

"Do you want me to go scout ahead?" Olgilvie asked, bouncing on his toes.

Vector sent him a sharp look, shaking his head roughly. "No, Olgilvie." He commanded. "We stick together."

"My name's not Olgilvie." The hedgehog retorted, glaring out of their hiding spot. "It's Sonic. I don't want to be called Olgilvie anymore."

Espio and Vector shared a look before nodding grimly. "Alright then, Sonic." The crocodile answered. "We stick together, okay?"

Sonic sighed, nodding back. "Fine."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Tails asked, squirming forward so he was standing next to Sonic.

"At the opposite edge of the forest is a port. We'll try to hop on a boat to South Island from there." Vector explained, pulling the three-year-old back.

"We're just gonna lea-" Sonic attempted to retort, but a loud voice from above them stopped the words in his throat.

"_Good evening, Christmas Island!"_ A deep voice boomed across the whole island, shaking the trees and upsetting feral birds from their roosts. "_I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and this is where you meet your end, Mobian rats!_

"_You may be wondering what is happening here today, and I'll be happy to enlighten you. You are the first of my new power-source. I am harvesting your pitiful animal bodies and placing them inside my glorious machines! You should be honored! You are enabling the rise of the Robotnik Empire! Ohohoho!" _The voice fell into laughter, coughing and hacking.

Sonic's ears twitched, and he scowled. "What a wind-bag." His narrow five-year-old vocabulary limited the insult he could give, but it was pretty effective anyway, eliciting a giggle from Tails.

"We should move." Vector commented, hoisting the small fox into his arms. "He sounded close."

"I'm pretty sure he sounded close no matter where you were standing," Espio muttered, nudging Sonic forward with his foot. The hedgehog stumbled over a tree root, but picked himself back up easily enough.

They set a steady pace with Vector running at the head of the group and Espio and Sonic bring up his flanks. They rushed around trees, bounced over logs, and took detours passed robots. The next twenty minutes of running blurred together for Sonic, but he could sense his friends' exhaustion catching up with them as the time passed. Espio and Vector weren't long distance runners, and having to carry Tails was taking its toll on them.

Unfortunately, Tails was almost the same size as Sonic, so there was no way he could carry the fox, and there was really nothing he could do about their speed. However, he could make the path easier.

With that thought in mind, he dashed forward, rushing passed Vector. He was moving so fast that he almost didn't hear the crocodile's yell of shock. He darted forward, jumping over a suspended tree root and glancing left and right, searching for robots.

He felt like the hero in the movie they had been watching. Trying to save those he held dear from the evil threatening him the only way he knew how. He ran.

He crossed paths with a few 'bots, and he skidded to a stop. There was no way for him to incapacitate them, but, if he could divert them…

He stuck his fingers into his mouth, whistling sharply through them. The robots whirled around, catching sight of him, and rushed toward him. He took off, heading in a random direction.

He didn't know what he was going to do now that he had a battalion of robots following him, but he _knew_ he had to save his friends. His nose twitched as he ran, taking in the smells of the forest. There was the usual stuff, dirt, animals, oak, burning wood…

_Wait. Burning wood_?

Suddenly, sound roared into his ears, cutting into his train of thought. All around him, the forest was lit ablaze. The orange fire set everything in sharp relief, casting crazy shadows across the ground and filling the sky with smoke, blocking out the waning sunlight. It was the only source of light, but also malicious. It devoured the trees, blazed through the vegetation on the ground, and even licked at the robots scaling the trees. Sonic couldn't stop however, because the 'bots were hot on his tail.

He rushed forward, jumping through a gap of the fire line. He glanced backwards and was awarded with the sight of the bots all going up in flames. Their casings were plastic, not metal like the hedgehog had first suspected, making them flammable, and they lit up like matches.

Turning on his heel, he dashed back the way he had come, and almost slammed right into Vector minutes later. The crocodile was covering his nose with his hand and trying to breathe only through his mouth. Tails was a small ball in his arms, but he perked up when he saw Sonic.

Vector sent Sonic a glare that said _'If I could, I would kill you right now'_, and the hedgehog grinned back uneasily. The crocodile jerked his head behind him, the universal signal for 'follow me,' and Sonic did as he was told.

They ran for fifteen minutes more minutes before they finally found the edge of the tree line. Ahead of them was a giant pier, somehow still intact despite the state of the island around it. There was a small fishing boat moored to it. There were already about twenty Mobians on it, and it looked over-capacity. A small yellow form was untying the ropes keeping it attached to the dock and Sonic shared a look with Espio before darting ahead.

"Hey, wait!" He yelled, waving his arms. The person on the dock looked up, his face blackened with smoke and ash. When he caught sight of Sonic, he waved him forward quickly. Sonic's shoes tapped as they hit the wooden dock and he skidded to a stop next to the yellow Mobian.

He was a golden squirrel, almost unrecognizable through the layer of black covering him. "My friends!" He gasped, unable to form the words. He pointed toward the advancing forms of Vector and Espio, Tails a small golden ball in Vector's arms.

"We gotta go, kid!" The squirrel bellowed, yanking at the knot. "The 'bots'll figure us out soon enough!"

"Can't you wait ten more seconds?"

"If they're not here by the time these knots are undone, then I can't help them."

Sonic wheeled around, urging them forward with his mind. Somehow, they managed to speed up, despite their obvious fatigue, and Sonic felt hope well up in his chest.

However, the squirrel got the knots to give when they were about five yards from the dock. Immediately, the gold Mobian turned and jumped into the boat, and the captain gunned the engine. The watercraft darted away.

Literal seconds later, Vector and Espio stopped next to Sonic, staring at their last hope of salvation.

However, before the hopelessness could set in, Vector set Tails on the ground.

"Can you swim?" He demanded, looking at his friends.

Both Espio and Tails nodded their consent – Sonic didn't bother questioning when Tails learned – and all three looked expectantly at the hedgehog. He shook his head regrettably, feeling his heart sinking.

"Never learned."

"Okay," Vector said slowly, his mind working. The tension was thick in the air. Ever second that passed was further the boat got. "You ride on my back. Let's go."

Sonic clambered up the crocodile's scales until he was seated between Vector's shoulder blades, and the green Mobian immediately took off, heading straight for the water. Tails and Espio were close behind, Espio grabbed the fox's hand to make sure he didn't fall behind.

They dove into the water, and Sonic tightened his grip on the body beneath him as it rushed up to greet them. It was cold, unnatural for the summer, and slammed into Sonic's senses, blinding him. He felt his grip loosen, and he was suddenly floating away. He gasped, losing precious oxygen, and flailed his legs, not getting purchase on the non-solid around him. He drifted downward, despite the air in his lungs, and the panic started to set in.

Until, that is, a small hand latched around his left wrist, yanking him toward the surface. His head broke into sweet air and he gasped, eyes whirling toward his savior. Tails had his arms around Sonic's larger form, keeping him above the surface of the water. They were being pushed along by Vector as his feral ancestry came into play. He darted through the water like Sonic did on land, Espio clinging to his tail.

Soon enough, they reached the boat, and the people on board let out a shout, leaning down to help them up. Sonic coughed and gagged when he landed on the deck, and he felt someone start compressions on his chest. He hacked and chocked, trying to expel the water trapped in his lungs. Eventually, the water in his system forced its way out and he heaved a sigh of relief when his airway was clear.

His vision was starting to get foggy around the edges, and he felt something snuggle into his side.

"You can sleep now, Sonic." Tails' soft voice mumbled in his ear. "Rest, big bro'."

Happily, Sonic closed his eyes and did that just.

* * *

><p><em>Four year old Sonic may seem advanced, but I'm assuming that Mobians mature faster than humans. He also learns from experience, so most of his vocabulary is picked up from the adults around him. He's a smart guy anyway, if you ask me.<br>_

_Updates on this story are going to sporadic at best because I have another major story going on right now (_The Genesis of a Generation_) and that one comes first in my mind. I don't do well with more than one major story going on at once, so this one may sit on the backburner for a while. Just keep your eyes peeled._

_Reviews are cherished. _


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